Allos Ventures 2018 Year in Review
It’s been a busy year at Allos Ventures. 2018 was an exciting time that brought numerous successes to our firm as well as our portfolio companies. While we are looking forward to making new investments in high-growth tech startups in 2019, the new year is also a time to reflect on the achievements attained in 2018. Below is a recap of some of this year’s highlights.
Allos III First Closing with $40 million in Capital Committed
Allos closed a first round of $40 million in committed capital for its third fund (Allos III) in December. Allos III will continue with the successful investment strategy utilized in funds I and II: investing in high-growth, high-potential technology startups in the Midwest. The fund received investments from the Next Level Indiana Fund and Indiana University Foundation, as well as prominent tech executives such as David Becker and Mark Hill.
PERQ Investment
Upon the initial closing of fund III, Allos III made its first investment in PERQ, an Indianapolis-based marketing technology firm with about 115 employees. PERQ boosts website conversion through its online guided shopping solution, which leverages artificial intelligence to dynamically change existing websites to deliver the next best step in each buyer’s shopping journey. PERQ solutions are used by more than 1,000 businesses in the home furnishings, auto retailing and multifamily industries.
David Kerr Joined the Allos Team
In May David Kerr joined the team as Allos’ third managing director. David is a Princeton University graduate, and most recently served as CEO of Octiv, an Allos II company that was successfully exited in April. David is a seasoned technology executive who has been a leader in the industry since 2000 when he served as CEO of NoInk Communications. He also brings valuable leadership experience to Allos through his roles as VP and General Manager at Groupon, General Manager at Angie’s List, and President of European Operations at GHX.
Octiv Exit
In April Octiv was successfully sold to Conga (backed by both Insight Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures), producing favorable returns to Allos. Conga, the global leader in Intelligent Document Automation, acquired Octiv to enhance the breadth and depth of their already-existing suite which is widely considered the industry’s most comprehensive Intelligent Document Automation Suite. Allos was the first venture capital firm to invest in Octiv, and Don Aquilano worked closely with David Kerr and the rest of the Octiv team over the years on fundraising, sales and marketing strategy, and the process that led to the sale to Conga.
Portfolio Company Financings
Scale Computing closed a $30 million financing round led by Lenovo in October.
Emplify closed a $7.5 million financing round led by Edison Partners in September.
Enosix closed a $4.2 million financing round led by Capital Midwest in July.
7Signal closed a $7 million financing round with investment from Halcyon Investments in March.
Looking Forward to 2019
While 2018 was an excellent year, we are looking forward to making more investments in 2019 in high-growth, high-potential technology startups in the Midwest. Last year proved that there is abounding talent and opportunity in the startup ecosystem ripe for early-stage investment, and we are ready to lean in.